Baseball

The Red Sox in the World Series brings us all together. It’s something we can all agree on and celebrate even if we are divided by politics or culture.

But the timing is tough for John Connolly and Marty Walsh who have less than two weeks of campaigning in the mayor’s race and neither can afford to miss an opportunity to interact with voters.

Indeed there are suddenly fewer of those opportunities because of this series, especially if it goes to seven games.

This became an issue for the two candidates last week when they their first debate had to compete with a critical playoff game in their first debate. They’ll have an even harder time when they debate tonight.

And it’s not just a competition for ratings. Campaign supporters know better than to call a Bostonian at home around the time of a World Series game with the Red Sox. That’s a good way to lose votes.

But we cannot ignore the fact that these candidates were already struggling to energize voters in this race.

We’ve heard many reasons for that beginning with the very large field of candidates that splintered the race before the preliminary.

Some say that prevented a real front runner from emerging. And we cannot ignore voter fatigue. It’s been an issue in Massachusetts over the past year with more special elections than many people can count.

So I know a lot of Red Sox fans would love to see the team go the distance and win the series at Fenway Park. But I’m guessing Connolly and Walsh would prefer the Red Sox win before they come back home.